The Book of the Dead

By Jim Carr

The book of the dead was a term used by archaeologists to describe the writings on the linen in which mummies were wrapped. They usually contained prayers for the dead.

But they take on a deadly significance when Mussolini hears rumours of an ancient Etruscan book of the dead that is said to contain a prophecy of the rise of a great leader in Italy.

Kate Winters, an amateur archaeologist and an expert on ancient Etruscan writings, is pressed into service to go to Italy with her team and try to find this mummy before Mussolini's secret service does. In the race, she finds herself in a race with a killer Egyptain  adventurer who tried to kill her.

• Language: English
• Publisher: jim Carr
• Release date: Jul 30, 2021
• ISBN: 9781989425350

Jim Carr

Jim Carr's adventure with words began as a teacher of Latin grammar, followed by a lengthy career in print journalism as a reporter, columnist and editor. He left to become a communications specialist for a number of national and international corporations and institutions. He returned to journalism in retirement and acts as associate editor of Spa Canada magazine as well as freelancing for other publications. He writes a blog about Thai resorts and spas, which is featured on Spa Canada's website, as well as fiction.

Book preview

BOOK OF THE DEAD

JIM CARR

CHAPTER ONE

R

avi Gaber reached into his pocket to feel his knife.

Kate smiled at him, held up a small clay tablet she had just translated, and walked toward him. You and I are about to change the history books.

Ravi read Nefertiti’s name before she lowered the tablet.

You and I shall share in this discovery. She smiled at him again.

Ravi tried to hide the growing excitement in his voice. What does it say?

That Nefertiti is not the daughter of Aye but his wine steward. Hard to believe the first archeologists didn’t discover it. It was hidden in the dust on the floor. I stubbed my toe on it just a minute or so. She handed him the thin clay tablet. See for yourself.

Ravi, who could read ancient Egyptian as well as Kate, could scanned the tablet to confirm her translation and smiled – a cruel smile she had never seen on his dark face before. The candles that provided light in the gloom flickered uneasily. He looked down at his soiled shirt and trousers, grabbed the handle of his dagger, and thrust it at her. It had served him well. He found that it made people do things for him, and those who refused never lived to tell the tale.

What's this? Kate couldn't believe what she was seeing. She stepped into his circle.

If you take one step further, I will slit your throat. He pushed his arm out in her direction.

You won't get away with this. Her heart was pounding in her ears, and she started breathing hard.

We’ll see. But for now, this is my passport to a better life. I know your kind. Share with me in the discovery? That’s just talk. For years, I’ve had to take orders from people like you with puffed-up self-importance.

That’s not true, Ravi. We have been together for almost three weeks. Have I not always kept my word?

His face twisted in raw hate. Now, back off. Ravi poked the knife in her direction. She took a step back.

Ravi backed up slowly, still holding the knife in her direction. In the sunlight from the pyramid entrance, she saw how thin he was and the crazed look in his eyes. She didn't know what to do for the first time in her life.

If you try to rush me, I will kill you. He turned and ran up to the small entrance they had created. He slid his feet past the opening and disappeared in the late afternoon heat. Kate tiptoed to the entrance and peeked around the corner, careful not to make a sound. Her heart was pounding so hard she had trouble breathing. She held her breath as she glanced around the corner just in time to see him lever one of the rocks to block the entrance. He caught her looking at him and laughed.

She stood directly at the entrance. She knew Ravi could see her. You can’t leave me here to die in the darkness. I will suffocate. Besides, I only showed you one tablet, she managed to say just as he levered the second large stone to block the entrance completely. She backed away, feeling dizzy and rubbed her forehead. She tried to control her breathing, but her heart felt as though it would burst at any time.

The one remaining candle flickered, and she panicked. If it went out, she had no matches. It was using up the oxygen, but she needed it. She sat down on a low ledge. Her movements stirred the air, and the candle almost went out. That’s when she spotted the flashlight Ravi dropped when it fell from his jacket pocket when he threatened her.  She stopped. She had to get control of herself, she thought. There’s always a solution if you think hard enough. That’s when she remembered something Professor Tilly said to her when she was with him on a dig in Tuscany as one of his students:

When you find yourself blocked, do what mice do. They don’t get upset. They just find another way to get in.

For the first time, she smiled. What did she know about the pyramid? Quite a few things, including building shafts, probably air shafts to let air in during construction. Perhaps, the room had one of these shafts, although it wasn’t likely. All the same, it was worth trying.

Hope flooded through her as she picked up the candle and felt around the room for a hint of air or a loose panel. No luck. The walls, plastered white, showed drawings of slaves cutting grain, others carrying grain, farmers ploughing fields, boats in the river, priests making offerings to Ammon, female dancers and musicians. There was a niche with the bust of a young face on the far wall, probably, she thought, a child who had died early.

She replaced the candle on the main edge when she felt something pass over her feet. A snake. It raised its head, opened its jaws and hissed at her. She raised her leg in reaction and kicked it to the end of the room. She felt the dust move behind her feet and turned to see another snake slithering in her direction. She climbed atop the panel and watched it move in the direction of the other snake.

She stood there, frozen, heart pumping and breathing hard. At the rate she was going, she would never get out of there. She was finding it harder to breathe. The oxygen was getting thinner, and here she was, standing immobilized, scared to move. If there were two snakes, there had to be more.

The candle was almost at its end when she spotted something shining in the corner, where the panel ended against the wall. She knew she was rapidly running out of time and had to find out what it was. She stepped down slowly and took three steps away from the shiny object when the candle died, leaving her in total darkness. Ravi’s flashlight was too far away to reach, and she had to risk extending her hand into the corner where she last saw the silver object. Her hand felt around in the dust without success. She took another step closer and felt around again. She felt something. Something hard and smooth. She grasped it tightly, made her way back to the panel wall, and climbed atop it again.

Kate placed the object between her legs and felt around for the flashlight. She knocked it to the floor beside her. It was too far down to grasp it and had to chance that the snakes had not returned. She put her right foot down and bent to feel around the dust for the flashlight, which she grasped on her first try. Kate could hear the snakes coming back and raised her leg to the safety of the ledge.  She turned the flashlight on and saw them move away when she shone it on them. Kate smiled a second time.  She still had to find her way out of there, but she felt better. She held the object up against the light. Perhaps it looked like a tool, a carving tool, and the hook at the end suggested something more. Whatever it was, it was a good omen.

Kate shone the light at the opposite wall, where the bust in a niche looked back at her. It was the only place she hadn’t checked. She had no idea where the snakes were but knew that the light sent them away. It might work again if she examined the niche and bust in it. She climbed down and headed for the opposite wall, shining the flashlight on the floor. She was right. She looked down to see something move away from her in the dust.

The bust had stood there for thousands of years, and she wondered what it was used for. This was not a burial chamber. And there was no reason for a bust to be there. It was made of stone and heavy to move. She held the flashlight between her legs and moved the bust from its place. All at once, the wall began to move with a heavy creaking noise, and she suddenly found herself in another chamber as the wall moved back into place. Kate played the flashlight all around the room, which led to another chamber on her right, which, she judged, was closer to the outer wall.

She shone the light on the right wall, and there it was. A shaft open for all the world to see. Her heart was racing as she approached it and shone her flashlight up the shaft. It was a narrow air shaft, but she knew this was her one chance to escape. She held the flashlight in the crook of her right arm, clasped both hands, and crawled her way in. The shaft was narrower than she judged. It was slippery in places, sending her back a few feet each time. The edges scraped her arms and thighs as she slowly clawed her way ahead. As she neared the end, she could faintly hear muffled voices. She froze, unsure what to do. She couldn’t go back to certain death. She turned off the flashlight and continued her climb close to the outside. She breathed in the pure air once again.

The voices were louder now. Kate knew enough Egyptian to recognize the word for light. She turned the flashlight on again and started clawing toward the opening.

Two faces looked down at her. One of them reached out, grabbed her hand, and helped her wiggle out of the shaft. They spoke to her in Egyptian, but she shook her head. The younger one looked at her face and dark blond hair in the moonlight and talked to her in English.

How were you locked inside a pyramid, lady?

My guide sealed me inside the pyramid and left me to die. He threatened to kill me with a knife if I tried to stop him from sealing me in the tomb. I’m an archeologist. She had to get her breath before adding: Thank God, you’ve found me. I need to get to Cairo. Can either of you help me? I’m prepared to pay for your help.

My son has a motorbike. He will take you there, said the old man.

What about you? We can’t leave you here by yourself.

I will be all right, lady. I have been haunting these places long before he was born. I am a grave robber. He rubbed his chin and smiled at her. Three of his front teeth were missing, and he tended to wipe his mouth when speaking. He and his son wore dark clothes, and both threw back their heads when they laughed.

At first, when we saw you, said his son, a young man about 21 with dark eyes and a handsome face, my father thought you might be an evil spirit. But I knew differently when I saw the light from your flashlight He was dressed in the latest clothing style, and his promenaded hair shone in the moonlight. I work at the Museum of Antiquities in Cairo in the daytime.

Then you must know Dr. Ramsis. I was at his office three weeks ago.

He is too high up for me to know. My name is Zahur. I am a junior archaeologist. Did you find anything interesting?

Yes. That is why my guide sealed me up in the pyramid and left me to die there so that he could take credit for my discovery. You may know him, Ravi Gaber. If you don’t, stay clear of him. He will do you no good.

I am Ahmose, said his father in Egyptian, his eyes shining like a mirror of the bright moon.

Kate shook his hand. I am Kate Winters, lawyer and amateur archaeologist.

He nodded and smiled at her.

Zahur helped her down the stones and led her to where he parked his motorbike in the dense shadows of the pyramid. She was surprised at how cold the night had become and shivered. All she was wearing was a cotton blouse and slacks. Zahur looked at her, took off his jacket, and handed it to her. You need this more than I do.

His father waved to them as they left the sight and disappeared into the shadows with his shovel.

Zahur slowed down his motorbike. There is an old temple which I know. Someone told me that they still worship Ammon there on nights of the full moon. He glanced at the moon. Are you game?

Lead the way, she said, as he fired up his motorbike and headed in a different direction with the wind blowing sand in her mouth, which she kept spitting out, and her hair over her eyes.

About 30 minutes later, Zahur slowed down his motorbike. We’re approaching the old temple now. Whatever you do, talk in whispers when we stop. We do not want to be discovered.

She laughed. Now, you tell me.

He stopped his motorbike a five-minute walk from the temple. We walk the rest of the way.

They could hear chanting when they neared the temple. Zahur parked his motorbike in the shadows and made signs for them to edge closer to the temple's outer chamber.

The chanting continued, and after a few minutes. Zahur rose and pulled her away with him. They are talking about offering a human sacrifice to Ammon. This is no place for us.

A tall man wearing white trousers and a shirt emerged from the shadows. Sacrifice. I don’t believe it, he whispered in a decided Australian accent.  They moved beyond the temple. Before I ask you about this, let me introduce myself. Ken Taylor. I’m a freelance photographer for an Australian magazine. I can’t speak for your offsider, he said to Kate, but I wouldn’t miss this for the world.

I’m Kate. Kate Winters. Amateur archaeologist and lawyer. My companion, who just rescued me from a pyramid, is Zahur. He works at the Cairo Institute of Antiquities.

Zahur shook hands with Ken. I’m heading out, with or without you, he said to Kate.

If you decide to stay, said Ken, I have a bike and can take you to Cairo if you choose to stay.

Kate nodded, felt into her trouser pocket, and passed Zahur a banknote. Zahur shook his head, but Kate put it in his hand and closed it. Thank you for rescuing me.

Zahur walked away from the temple before starting his motorbike and disappearing into the night.

Your friend is a careful young man, Ken whispered as they reached the outer chamber. He picked up his camera and flash, stepped back, and took a picture of the high priest with his arms raised.

Ken rolled his film and took a few steps nearer, tripping over his camera bag and falling headlong into the temple.

A cry went up immediately. Infidels, shouted the high priest as he took off his mask. It was Ravi Gaber.

CHAPTER TWO

K

ate stepped back into the shadows and tried to escape but stopped. Someone grabbed both Kate’s ankles and hauled her back into the outer chamber. An older man with a shaved head wearing a light brown robe helped Kate to her feet and pushed her into the temple, lit by a hundred or more torches. Two rows of men with shaved heads and wearing similar robes slapped her with wide wood bats until she stood before Ravi.

Ravi raised his hands. I know this evil woman who tried to seal me inside one of the pyramids earlier today.  She didn’t know I had a secret exit. Set be praised. The others echoed his words as the temple suddenly became silent.

Kate shook herself free from the two priests who held her arms on either side and turned to face the others.  He lies. He threatened me with a knife.

She lies, like all foreigners and unbelievers.

Sacrifice her to Set, the other priests kept shouting over and over.

Ravi held up his arms again. He was dressed as Set, the God of the desert, storm and evil, with a black headdress with a long nose of an anteater and a dog's ears and holding a staff. His arms had blue bands, and he wore a yellow and white kilt with a blue belt with a length that touched the floor. And the other infidel with her.

Ken shook himself free and pushed back his hair. I am a photographer for a big magazine. I want to show the world how you have brought Ammon back to life and encourage others to do the same. It will return Egypt to its former glory and you, he said with a bow to Ravi, and you others will be revered for eternity.

There was a loud murmur as the other priests talked among themselves. Ravi pounded his wood staff on the stone floor. In the silence that followed, he lifted his staff to the statue of Ammon and shouted: There is no other god but Ammon.

The other priests repeatedly shouted his words until Ravi raised his staff. Kate didn’t like how this was turning and raised her hands. I agree with you all. It is the reason I came to Egypt. I was looking for signs in the pyramid to give me a clue about where I might find you. When I was sealed in the pyramid, Ammon showed me how to escape and that I should travel the world and tell everyone I meet that Ammon had risen from the dust and his kingdom will once again arise from the mists of time.

The priest, translating her words for the others, bowed to her as the others began mumbling among themselves.

Ravi raised his staff. Set told me that an infidel would arise in our midst when we least expected it and mock us in front of the world. Set has also told me that we must sacrifice these infidels.

Sacrifice them, sacrifice them, suddenly became a chant rising at each turn until it became deafening.

Ravi smiled. You escaped once, but you will be sorry you did once the flames devour your body.  He raised his eyes to the ceiling, where a steel cage swung from a large hook. The cage creaked as it was slowly levered to floor level. The woman who defiled Ammon’s temple will go first.

One of the priests opened the door and pushed her inside. Kate swung and knocked him down. It was an older man, and she suddenly felt sorry. Two other priests grabbed her and dragged her to the cage, where she was pushed inside.  She pushed them away and tried to run out of the enclosure but was stopped before she got ten steps away. Two more priests dragged her to the cage. One of them pushed her inside, and the other slammed the door shut. Then they all moved back from the centre of the room as the floor suddenly opened. Bright flames from the fire below brightened the faces of those nearest to the fire. They raised the cage slowly to the ceiling while the monks prostrated themselves, and Ravi led them in a chant to Ammon. When their prayer ended, four of the monks went to the back of the room and started to lower the cage, stopping it two feet above the fire.

A stranger suddenly appeared in the back of the temple. It was Zahur, with fireworks in his hands. He was lighting them from a cigarette, sending bright yellow and red and explosions amid the monks. Ravi was shouting at them, but the cries from the monks drowned out his voice.

Ken threw off the monks holding his arms, and headed for the cage. Kate saw him standing just below her.

Open the door and jump. I’ll break your fall.

She opened the door and stood at the edge of the cage and the heat from the fire. She was uneasy about heights and was shaking.

Jump. While you still have the chance.

A second later, Kate closed her eyes and found herself on top of him. He pushed her off and helped her up. Now, let’s get to hell out of here." He grabbed her arm and pushed her to the entrance, where Zahur was still sending off fireworks. Zahur followed them out the door.

Two of the temple guards saw what was happening and ran after them but had no idea what direction they were heading in the darkness. Zahur and Ken headed for their motorbikes. Kate decided to go with Zahur, and seconds later, they were speeding their way to Cairo, first over the sands and finally to a road that led to the city. Kate kept looking back and spotted lights trailing them at a distance.

They’re trying to catch us, she yelled in Zahur’s ear, loud enough that Ken heard her. They seem to be gaining on us. The next few minutes were heart-pounding as the bikes behind them were getting closer. She could hear the sound of bullets whistling by them. Did you hear that?"

"There’s a fork in the road not too far from here. The one on the right gets you there